First Team Debuts

Milestones

FOR much of this game it seemed all too easy for visitors Livingston, who coasted to a convincing victory over a Dumbarton side that had its chances but somehow never got going at the Bet Butler Stadium this afternoon.

Goals on the half hour, just after the restart and finally 13 minutes before the end clinched both the match and all three points for the Lions, as they took revenge for Sons' previous win at Almondvale.

Dumbarton boss Ian Murray was in no mood to make excuses afterwards, describing the result and the overall performance as “very disappointing” and acknowledging that Livi, as well as his own squad, had suffered from injuries in the run up to this encounter.

“At least it leaves us no worse off than we were before,” he noted. “There's still a job to be done, and we move on to facing Raith Rovers at home with that incentive to get going again.”

Sons started with Jim Lister and Steven McDougall up front, and with Mark Lamont and Mark Gilhaney operating on the overlap.

The Lions did not take long to get their usual short passing game going, denying their opponents both possession and the opportunity to press forward.

Nonetheless, Dumbarton had the first chance of the match. Gilhaney's cross was won by Lister, and the big man headed just wide of the post.

At the other end, Liam Fox fired over the bar from 18 yards out. He should have done better. It was a let off for Sons.

For most of the time neither side was showing much decisive penetration in the final third. A Scott Agnew free kick, one of several, failed to test Livingston 'keeper Andrew McNeil.

Steven McDougall came closer for Sons when a decent looking strike was deflected up and away.

When Livi had the ball they stroked it around and seemed to have plenty of space and time. When Dumbarton gained it, the visitors closed down quickly and forced errors without needing to get too physical.

Just as the match seemed to have settled into a kind of souped-up training game, the Lions bit sharply.

On 32 minutes teenage debutant Kyle Lander gave them the lead as he slotted the ball home coolly from six yards, following a quick, neat cutback from Burton O'Brien.

Moments later, Livi resurrected almost exactly the same move. This time Lander's shot went over the bar, but Sons 'keeper Stephen Grindlay was clearly not amused, urging his back line to be more alert.

Then a fast, flowing move from Dumbarton ended with Jim Lister side-footing straight at McNeil instead of unleashing something more aggressive.

Neither side was able to add to the score sheet before half-time, but undoubtedly Livingston were looking more assured for their lead, even though they had enjoyed only two direct shots on goal — one of which had been made to count.

There was some anticipation that Dumbarton would come out of the starting blocks with renewed vigour following the break, but not much seemed to have changed.

Indeed, two minutes into the second period Paul Watson fatally doubled the visitors' lead, escaping his marker and heading in from Liam Fox's outswinging corner.

The goal immediately dampening hopes of a home revival. Most of Sons chances seemed to be coming from set pieces, including a couple more free kicks and several corners.

From the first free kick Chris Turner struck a low, hard drive. The Livingston goalie managed to get down and parry it. Lister was on hand, but could not react fast enough to take advantage.

Next Agnew had another punt. This time his strike crashed into the side netting. For a second the home supporters thought it had gone in, but it was not to be.

Andy Graham headed over from a corner as Prunty and Lister sought to find each other's pace and open up something for Sons in the box.

Dumbarton were pushing forward, but also taking too many passes and allowing themselves to be harried off the ball.

In another change, Murray substituted left-back James Creaney and brought on youngster Josh Horne. The new man worked hard to create space but was not getting the ball in key areas.

The closest Sons came to an equaliser was when eventual Man of the Match Alan Lithgow, who had made several important stops at the back, hits the bar from a Mark Lamont corner.

A Bryan Prunty volley looked dangerous, but was extremely well dealt with by Andrew McNeil — who a few minutes earlier had almost tripped up in the area when not under any particular pressure.

With 13 minutes left on the clock Livingston wrapped up the game with relative ease. Danny Mullen slipped past the defence and slid the ball past Stephen Grindlay, picking up a well-angled through pass from Kyle Jacobs.

There was no coming back from 3-0 at this stage. With ten minutes to go, the Dumbarton bench decided to rest Jim Lister for another day after another hard-working performance, and gave Ryan Metcalfe a chance to make a late impression.

It started to look better for Sons as Scott Agnew went on a mazy run. He clipped a ball in to Mark Gilhaney, but the winger was unable to find the target and headed just over.

Late on, Alan Lithgow made a good stop to prevent further damage at the back. Sons kept trying, without much hope of grabbing a consolation and with no chance of reversing the outcome.

Despite the undoubted disappointment, Dumbarton remain four points clear of second-bottom Cowdenbeath in the Irn Bru SFL First Division, with five matches still to play. Airdrie United are firmly rooted to the foot of the table.